SHAURYA SINGH THAPA
VISUAL POETS
The Best Indian Music Video Directors of our times
This decade has seen the rise of indie vocalists, bands, and rappers in India on a scale, bigger than ever.
A significant reason why their singles are etched in our heads are music videos. Most of these music videos are shot with limited budget
and in local settlements but the directors turn these into their unique selling point. Independent filmmakers and production companies
like Jugaad Motion Pictures, are constantly creating a raw and realistic aesthetic for these artists and their Indian roots.
1. Bombay Arthouse
A Mumbai and New
York based production
company, Bombay
Arthouse is a duo
comprising of Emily
Rose Weinstein and
Harshbir Singh Phull
(they call themselves
‘that Sikh and that
gori’). They have a
knack for bringing
out the aesthetic in
the ‘not so aesthetic’.
Just take Prabh Deep’s
Sauce or Tienas’s 18th
December for instance,
both videos include
shots of Tilak Nagar,
Delhi and the shores
of Mumbai, giving life
to bleak remnants of
concrete jungles.
2. Dar Gai
A Ukrainian director,
Gai has already
directed two major
motion pictures
but her fame in the
music video world is
rising, after creating
the music video for
Prateek Kuhad’s love
ballad Cold Mess.
30
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
Starring Jim Sarbh
and Zoya Hussain,
the video traces the
highs and lows of
every relationship.
With a predominantly
‘blue’ colour scheme,
the video is warm,
sad, and above all,
artistic. Ritiviz’s Sage
is another story crafted
by her behind the
lens, which details an
exceptionally tall man’s
journey of finding love.
Also known as Lifafa,
Sawhney is the
lead singer of jazz/
rock outfit Peter
Cat Recording Co,
and often with his
wife or bandmates
conceptualize the
band’s videos. As can
be seen in Floated By
or Where the Money
Flows, their visuals are
riddled with typically
Indian elements like
a marriage scene or
the PM proclaiming
demonetization
on a retro-TV.
3. Dipraj Jhadav
Dipraj Jhadav is more
of a video editor than a
director, taking footage
from films and shows
and adding music to
it. But one can’t deny
the effect he has on
popular DJ Nucleya’s
‘desi’ brand by making
videos that pair
Nucleya’s heavy bass
drops with humorous,
random footage from
b-grade horror movies
to Baba Ramdev doing
yoga. Nucleya still uses
these ‘trippy’ visuals
in his concerts.
4. Suryakant Sawhney
5. Navzar Eranee
Also know for ad-films
with Reebok, Eranee
adds a lot of surreal
imagery to his videos.
This is highly evident
in Don’t Be Afraid by
NUKA (a side project by
Anushka Manchanda),
which shows her
dying, and her ashes
being scattered in
a beach, against a
dusky sky. But then
she gets reborn as a
forest spirit of sorts,
which is accelerated
by some brilliantly
done makeup. Eranee’s
follow-up was rapper
Kaam Bhaari’s Zeher
which shows how
exploitative record
label execs are no less
than ‘snakes’ and ‘bind’
artist, both literally
and metaphorically.
6. Karan Shelar (Canfuse)
Shelar has a wide
roster of hip-hop artists
on his CV from Enkore
to Shaikhspeare. And
his versatility can
be seen from the fact
that how each of his
video is different from
the other. His work
with Delhi rap duo
Seedhe Maut bears
testimony to this. In
Shaktimaan, Canfuse
shoots a black-and-
white story of an office
heist, and then creates
PNP with a diverse
colour pallet of the two
rappers falling in to
greed and drowning in
a ‘quicksand’ of money.
7. Danny Murray
Raised in Mizoram,
working in Delhi,
Danny Murray’s
direction for the song
Sunday helped in
making Mizo pop group
Avora Records more
popular. Away from
darker Indian imagery,
Murray’s video is
uplifting with a lot of
bright backgrounds,
added with a random
assortment of
aesthetics from the
Star Wars action
figures to a falling
Jenga tower or a dog
standing on two legs.
8. Misha Ghose
Misha Ghose is easily
the ‘Wes Anderson’ of
the Indian music video
world. She has helmed
animation and stop
motion videos for Your
Chin, but probably
her biggest magnum
opuses would be
dreampop duo Parekh
and Singh’s I Love
You Baby, I Love You
Doll, and Ghost. Light-
coloured suits, visually
pleasing interior
décor, lush greenery,
these two videos
would perpetually
be sights to soothe
sore eyes. The former
is more of a visual
treat while Ghost also
has a heartwarming
story, exploring
the bond between
a girl and a dog.